Improved Operational Availability Evaluation Algorithm for Meteorological Observation Equipment

Operational availability, Ao, is a comprehensive evaluation index of stable and reliable operation ability, maintenance support ability and data quality of meteorological equipment. The current Ao evaluation algorithm fails to make effective use of the operational status parameter information of various kinds of equipment, and it fails to establish the correlation mechanism between equipment maintenance and equipment operational capability assessment. In order to scientifically measure the stable and reliable operation of meteorological observation equipment and to provide reference for equipment manufacturers, decision makers, business managers and users, this study improved the Ao evaluation algorithm in China meteorological observation equipment support from three aspects, namely, the operation parameter information of key components of equipment, the equipment fault form filled manually by support personnel and the quality of observation data. Taking the weather radar as an example, the influence factors and evaluation results of the old and new algorithms on Ao are compared and analyzed. The results show that the new algorithm can more correctly reflect the operation ability of meteorological observation equipment and the level of meteorological observation support. This paper also discusses the processing of maintenance state, the utilization of equipment operating parameters, the processing of overlapping periods corresponding to each equipment status, and the data quality control in the new algorithm, and forecasts the future development direction of the operation evaluation service of meteorological observation network.